Naruto: Sound Sisters
by SBgirl04
Summary: The Tanaka family have traveled from far and settle down in Konoha. The three Tanaka siblings go around Konoha in search of some fun. There is a secret that could be disastrous for humanity, but only the father of the Tanaka family knows about it.
1. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1 – A new home  
________________________________________________________________________**

"Sunny day. Feels good."

She gazes up at the clear blue sky, birds flying around, chirping.

"Father?"

"Mmm?" he responds.

"How much longer 'til we arrive?" she groans.

"About an hour and a half longer," he tells her.

"Ugh... We could've been there by now if we weren't dragging those along..." she glares at her siblings.

"Whatever! They better have a hot spring there... I feel gross."

They all kept on moving forward into a long dirt road...

* * *

**Destination:**

**Konoha**

* * *

"Hello. I was wondering if you know where the nearest market is?" a young woman asks a Konoha local.

"Oh, yes. Just go down this street about five blocks, make a right and go down 3 blocks and you should see some stalls and stores there." He points her into the right direction.

"Ummm... Thank you." She looks at him a little distraught.

_'Well... I'm pretty good at hiding it I guess...'_ She shrugs it off and continues walking.

She continues to walks around aimlessly, hoping to finds somewhere to buy groceries. After walking around for about half an hour, she finds a couple of food stalls around.

"Let's see... Hmmmm... mmmmm... hmmmm...." she hums. _'Cabbages... carrots... apples...'_

"Oh! Oranges!" her face gleamed in delight. And right as she reaches to get one...

*POW!*

Someone crashes right into her. She falls over and spills all of the oranges on the ground.

_'Ouch...'_

"Ack! Sorry!! I didn't mean to... I really wasn't watching..." the boy breathing heavily from running apologizes.

"Uh... it's okay..." she stumbles around as she tries to get up.

"Let me help you." He extends his hand.

"Hmmmm..." she begins reaching for him awkwardly. The boy looks at her funny, shrugs, grabs her arm and gets her up.

"Oh my... I think I dropped all the oranges..." she looks around confused.

"It's okay, I'll help you. It's my fault anyhow," the boy scratches the back of his head.

"Thank you." she smiles politely. She starts humming and reaches awkwardly for the oranges on the ground. The boy takes note...

"You know what! I've got a better and faster idea!" he excitedly exclaimed.

"Here goes! KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!" 4 shadow clones appear. He and his clones begin to pick up all of the oranges very fast and pile them up into a little mountain near the other fruits.

_'What just happened?'_ the girl stands there confused.

"There! All done!" he smiles.

"Umm... thank you?" she looks around, baffled by what just happened.

"You're welcome! By the way, my name's Naruto Uzumaki! What's yours?"

"Oh... well, my name's Imao Tanaka. It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto." She smiles politely.

"Likewise!" he grins.

"Well, I have to keep shopping. Please don't run into me again." she looks at him with a blank expression.

"Ummm... heh." he scratches his head.

She smirks, "I'm kidding. Just don't run around like that. It's a bit dangerous."

"Ha ha! I knew that!" he grins.

Imao smiles and keeps looking around.

_'Wow... she's pretty.'_ Naruto starts to admire her... brown hair, oddly faded baby blue eyes, fair skin, rosy cheeks, dressed in a simple kimono, yet it complimented her curvy physique... he blushes a little.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. Are you visiting?" Naruto blurts out.

"Ummm... yeah, my family and I are just visiting for a few weeks. We just arrived a few hours ago." she keeps humming while picking fruit.

"Cool! If you want I could show you and your family around. Just let me know," he slyly says.

"Sure. That would be very nice. Maybe after I'm done shopping." She smiles.

_'Hmm... I'm surprised he hasn't noticed yet.'_

* * *

After Imao was done shopping, Naruto took her around the Konoha village, showing her from all of the places to train to all of the places he likes to go to. Especially his favorite place, Ichiraku's Ramen Shop. After stopping to treat her to some, he then helps her carry her groceries to her new little, one story home on the outskirts of Konoha.

"Wow, I didn't think there were any houses out here." He looks at the small, wooden house in question.

"Yeah, we just found it abandoned out here, so instead of setting up our tent, we just made it our own home." She smiled sheepishly.

'_Hmm… must have been one of Captain Yamato's creations.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

"Well, Naruto, that was fun. Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate it a lot!" Imao smiles happily.

"Awww... your welcome." He blushes while scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I'll be going in now. Thanks again!" They stop right in front of the entrance door. She then leans to his side and lightly kisses his cheek. Naruto immediately blushes and sighs as she pulls away. "Uuhh huh..." he drools a little.

"Hmmm... mmm..." Imao hums as she tries to open the door. Naruto had noticed her humming many times and became curious, as he usually does.

"Hey!" he blurts.

"Yes?" she stops opening the door.

"Why do you hum all the time? Is it a song you like?" he curiously questions her.

"Well... actually... no... it... it helps me see," she pauses and thinks to herself, "humming helps me…. because..."

"I'm blind."


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch.2 – You're Not Imao!  
________________________________________________________________________**

The bright rays of the golden sun shined through the room. Naruto turns away from the window, grabs the edge of his sheets and pulls them over his head. He slightly opens his eyes to notice how the light manages to shine through his covers. He groans.

_YAWN._ He stretches himself as he sits up on his bed, scratches his head and his exposed belly simultaneously. He looks outside, squinting from the sun's light entering through the window.

_'Damn sun. If it didn't exist I'd sleep all day! YAWN!'_

As he was eating breakfast, he begins to remember the events of the day before.

"Wow… she's blind." He recalls as he leans back on his chair.

Imao had explained to Naruto that she had been born that way and that humming worked like a sonar for her. It helped her "see" shapes and even outlines of objects she approached in her head – without her ability her, vision is just blank. Naruto wanted to know the experience, so he closed his eyes and started to hum as he attempted to walk… but in the process he stupidly tripped over himself. Imao giggled sensing what had happened.

"Hmmm, I wonder what she's doing today… I think I'll go visit her!" Naruto quickly finishes his breakfast, gets ready and dashes outside into the streets.

* * *

As Naruto makes his way through the streets, he notices a crowd of mostly men surrounding something. As he gets close and tries to make his way to see what is at the center of this whole commotion, he could hear men commenting on what a spectacle this person was.

"Impossible!"

"No way! She must be cheating!"

"She's bluffing!"

As he gets closer to the middle, he can make out a slim looking girl, dressed in a simple but long tan T-shirt and some long, spandex-like, black shorts standing on a box proclaiming her greatness.

"I challenge any man, any fighter, wrestler or ninja… or even if you think you're strong, come forward and I will defy you!"

Her tone and smirk were so snotty it made everyone around agitated and annoyed. There were two men next to her who were laying on the ground in pure agony. The girl looks down at them,

"Oh! Come on! You look pathetic! I didn't even use any of my real strength. Bunch of sissies!"

Naruto finally manages to make his way through only to find a huge surprise…

'_Imao!?'_

Naruto's jaw drops to the floor. He immediately runs to her.

"Wow! I didn't know you liked to spa…." he gets interrupted.

"You want to challenge me, little boy?" she stands on a box with her left arm on her hip.

"What? No. I just can't believe…" again interrupted.

"Oh, so you're a chicken then? Sissy." She starts mocking his stance.

"Now wait a minute! I…" poor Naruto gets interrupted again, letting the mob of angry men speak for him.

"You go, Naruto!! Kick her ass!"

"Yeah! Teach her a lesson!"

"Wait! I don't like to fight girls! It's not right!" he quickly backs away from her.

"Little boy, don't be scared. I don't bite… I just crush. Especially wimps like you!" She laughed in his face.

"I'm sorry but no!" he turns around and starts walking away.

"You're pathetic! But you know what, I'm glad you acknowledge my power without fighting me. Just know one thing, you'll never amount to anything, you weakling. You're just low class trash that will go nowhere. And…"

Naruto stops and turns around as she keeps demeaning him with harsh words. He looks at her with resentment in his eyes. He starts to proclaim,

"I guess you forgot then. I'm going to be Hokage some day! And I'll be the stronges…" Naruto gets cut off.

"Cry me a river, loser. If you're so great, prove it to me then!" she shouts to him.

"You're not as nice as I thought you were, so fine! Here I come!"

Naruto charges at her while she stands there with a mocking look. And as soon as he gets within one foot away from her, Naruto suddenly flies right into a wall and cracks it with great force.

* * *

_'What happened?'_ Naruto starts to move around. He then feels his stomach ache and spits up blood.

_'How could she do this to me and say all those horrible things to me? She was so nice yesterday.'_ He manages to push himself up and starts looking around. _'Where did everyone go? How long was I out for?'_

Naruto decides to go look for Imao and get a reason to why she acted in that manner. He searches for her for about an hour around the streets when he finally finds her, flirting with some guys near a shop. He then goes straight up to her with a frustrated face,

"What the hell is your problem!? How could you be so nice to me yesterday and now be a complete…" Naruto gets interrupted.

"Kid, I don't know what you're talking about. If you're so sour about me kicking your ass, please, go tell someone who cares." She becomes annoyed but ignores him and keeps flirting with the guys.

"See!! How could you be this way? Did I do something to offend you? Tell me!" Naruto insisted on getting an explanation.

"Yeah, your face is offensive!" all the guys laugh along with her.

"I thought you and I were friends but you don't even seem to care. Imao you're a b…" the girl jump in front of Naruto.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?" she looks at Naruto in pure hatred. Naruto gulps and timidly says, "I said you're a…"

"HOW DARE YOU!?!? DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT!! EVER!! YOU STUPID MORON! GET MY NAME RIGHT!!" she grabbed him by his collar and yells so loud the whole street stoped to look and see what was going on. Naruto had never been so scared of a girl before, he was even more scared than when Sakura yells at him. He could not understand why she was so angry.

"AND FOR YOUR USELESS INFORMATION, MY NAME IS IMAI!!" she notices the people staring and how she scared off the cute boys she was talking to… she takes a deep breath and calms down a little. She grits her teeth and discreetly says...

"And apparently, you met my fat, ugly twin Imao yesterday."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch. 3 – Completely Different**

He couldn't believe his ears.

"You're not Imao!? But you look just like her!!" he insisted.

"Are you stupid? I just said my name's Imai! And Imao is my TWIN SISTER! Dumbass…" she looked at him with great detest.

Naruto kept staring at her in complete awe. _'Am I dreaming?' _Poor Naruto was completely confused. '_If this is Imai then where…?'_

"HEY!! Imai! Is that Naruto with you?" a shout came from behind. Naruto turns around, realizing that it was not a lie. There are two of them. Imao then quickly but carefully paced herself towards them, humming as usual and with some kid tagging along behind her.

"Hey Naruto! How are you? I see you've met my sister… I hope we didn't confuse you." She steadies her breathing after the quick jog.

_'Two sisters that look the same? Wait! How did Imao know I was here? Wait! Is this a genjutsu? No! Imao doesn't know how to use any jutsu!! I think…'_ Naruto went into a confusion spin, but regained his senses but then kept staring at Imao, then Imai… _'Imao, Imai, Imao, Imai, Imao, Imao... no, Imai ,Imai... No! Imaio?'_ he goes into another confusion spin.

_'Poor Naruto.'_ Imao 'looks' at Naruto sympathetically. She moves back and feels the kid that was following behind her and perks up.

"Oh! By the way, this is my little brother, Kiyoshi. He's very shy." Imao pats her little brother on the head, shakes his pulled back, wavy hair as he slightly hides behind her.

"Hi there! My name's Naruto!" The boy looks at Naruto very timidly as he waves his hand slightly. Naruto could only guess that he's Imao's pet from how he clings to her. The boy wore a baggy and dirty, white long-sleeve shirt with a long sash around his waist that, from the looks of it, was used to lift his big shirt. His dark green shorts, torn and patched up, went down to his knees that had some scars and cuts. Kiyoshi noticed how Naruto stared at him curiously and blushed as he quickly hid behind Imao. His emerald green eyes and dark reddish-brown hair complimented his cute baby face…

_'A little weird for a pre-teen. Hmm… Odd kid.'_ Naruto shrugged and began to listen to the sisters argue.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!?!?" Imai shouted at Imao.

"Imai! Stop acting like an immature child! You know you must…" Imao demanded but was quickly cut off by Imai's loud grunt of frustration.

"IMAO!! I DON'T GIVE A CRAP WHAT FATHER OR YOU SAY!! **ESPECIALLY** WHAT **YOUR** FAT LIPS HAVE TO SAY!! AS LONG AS FATHER TRAINS ME, I'LL DO WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT!! AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!!" She then stormed off complaining about how stupid everything and everyone was. Imao hung her head as though she could see the ground. Naruto looked at Imao and saw how her eyes weld up with tears but were fought back into place with a tiny sigh. He realized this was something that happened all the time.

He patted her arm, "Imao!" and with a stern face told her, "Don't let her talk to you like that!! She has no right to treat you that way! You two are sisters! You nee…" Imao reached for Naruto's hands and began to plead as though she was condemned to punishment.

"Naruto… I apologize for her attitude. It's mostly my fault, please don't hold any grudges against her!" Naruto couldn't help but look at her funny. _'Why the heck is she apologizing?'_

"It's ok. Really. You don't need to apologize, especially for other peoples actions." He smiled politely at her, remembering she could still see him somehow.

"Thank you!" she reached to hug Naruto… but tripped and looked like she threw herself at him. Naruto blushed and gave a little awkward laugh. _'Wow, I didn't know she liked me this much!'_

"Oops! Sorry about that. I tend to do that when I'm still unfamiliar with places." She pushed herself off of him while Kiyoshi held her arm so she could keep her balance. Naruto collected himself and was so amazed at how different the two girls were. He had never met a pair of similar looking siblings that could not be compared at all. Imao was so tender and caring while the demon named Imai was aggressive and a complete bitch. It was angel vs. demon… and the demon seemed to be winning it all. Naruto only hoped that he never crossed that wench's path again, after all, she did knock him out.

--------------------------------------------------------------

All afternoon, Naruto accompanied Imao and her brother Kiyoshi around town. He kindly introduced Imao and Kiyoshi to a few of his fellow ninja comrades that they ran into. Naruto would tell everyone how intelligent and kind-hearted Imao is and rambled about how cool her blindness was. When he ran into Team 8, Hinata seemed a little jealous at how Naruto showed Imao off but seeing how Imao really didn't seem interested in the way Naruto was with her, she relaxed and chatted with her. Kiyoshi was exhausted from having trained earlier that day and asked Imao to take him home. Imao noticed that it was getting rather late and so, they said their goodbyes and started walking back to their house. Naruto walks with them and talked to them about how he had thought Imai was Imao earlier that day and unfortunately got his butt kicked by her as well.

Finally they arrived at their house and Kiyoshi went in.

"Well Naruto, thanks again for accompanying my brother and I. I really appreciate it. It's been really fun hanging out with you." She looked at him with a cute smile. Naruto blushed and smiled back then looked down. She got closer to him and grabbed his hand,

"Thank you, really." Naruto blushed harder as he felt his heart race. He looked at her and straight in her eyes then down to her smile. He leaned in closer, closed his eyes and...

"What are you doing?" he opened his eyes only to see a confused Imao. "Was there something on my face?" she questioned him, not even realizing what he was actually doing.

"Umm… no." He backed away with an embarrassed look on his face.

_'Hmmm… I wonder what happened?'_ Imao thought. "Well, thanks again! Come by whenever you like." She smiled as she went in. "Bye Naruto!" Naruto waved back slightly, smiled and went back into the city.


	4. Chapter 4 1

**Ch. 4.1 – Emerald Art  
_____________________________________________________________________________________**

Imao and Kiyoshi leave their home and into the forest in search of a place to wash their laundry. After walking around for a while, they find a running creek near by.

"Okay Kiyoshi, I think this is a good spot." Imao sensed the creek in front of her. She sat down slowly but close to the side of the creek and opened up a big bag.

"Kiyoshi, you can run along now. But don't go too far 'cause I'll need your help carrying some of this back and I can't have you tired." She politely told her brother.

"I'm fine, sis. I'll stay around here. Anyways, I don't like being far away. I have to protect you from bad people anyways." He tells her looking around suspiciously.

"Oh! Give it a rest! Have fun! It's a beautiful day to waste. Go search around… but don't stay TOO far now, though I'm sure you'll be able to hear me if I should need you. I'll be fine." She begins to take out a piece of dirty clothing from the big bag and puts it in the creek meanwhile she scrubs soap on it.

"but…" Kiyoshi gets interrupted.

"GO!! Go now or else!" Imao demands. "Or else…. I'll make you wash Imai's clothes." She teases.

"Ok! Bye!" Kiyoshi runs so fast he's almost inaudible.

"Hee hee hee… ah, that kid…" Imao smiles to herself and keeps washing clothes.

* * *

_Sigh…_ Kiyoshi walks along side the creek, which was starting to connect to a large lake. He admired the scenery around him and smiled as he saw birds chase each other among the trees. He had walked for a few minutes and, as he looked back, started wondering if he should go back and make sure Imao was ok, but then remembering the consequence she gave him made him cringe and he continued to walk beside the creek. _'Well, there's nothing to do now… except…'_ he lightly smiled to himself… and started running up the end of the creek and into the river. The water jumped all around him until he sunk all the way into the lake. He came up for air and giggled to himself. He started swimming around and splashed water all around him. But as he did, he noticed a figure near the edge of the lake. He sank down, only leaving the top part of his head out so he could breathe, but hoped that whatever was at the edge of the lake hadn't seen him. But then he saw the figure waving at him… it was a guy.

"Hey there!! Are you alright!?" the guy at the edge of the lake yelled out.

"…" Kiyoshi stayed quiet out of his embarrassment.

"Do you need help!?" the guy yelled out to him but Kiyoshi still wouldn't respond.

"I'm going in." the guy yelled out again as he started taking off his equipment and setting it down on the ground. Kiyoshi was alarmed and quickly swam closer to the guy and managed to tell him,

"I'm fine!" and kept swimming till he got toward the edge. As Kiyoshi gets out of the water, his hair becomes lose as his hair tie falls off. He blushes as he sees the guy smiling at him in such a weird way.

"Hi. My name's Sai. Sorry to have bothered your swim. I just saw you move around a lot; I thought you might have been drowning." He kept smiling at Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi just blushed and looked down. Sai then sits down, grabs the canvas he had set down, places it on his crossed legs and takes out some paint and paint brushes from his carrying bag. He begins to paint the scenery before him. Kiyoshi looks at him amazed and watches every stroke he made. He stands closer to him but still kept his distance.

"You can sit down and watch if you'd like. I don't mind." Sai politely said, not being distracted by the curious but cautious boy. Kiyoshi blushed lightly and sat down. Kiyoshi kept watching and admired the precision of Sai's painting skills.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but… what's a girl doing wearing boy clothes?" he quickly eyed her without moving his face; he tried to figure her out. Kiyoshi looked at him in disbelief.

'_How could he tell!?'_ "It's a long story…" she quietly told him as she looked down, away from him.

"I see. Well, we all have our reasons for making our decisions." He smiled at her then continued to paint the scenery in front of him.

"…" she looked down shyly. There had never been anyone that had noticed it before. She was always able to hide it very well. Sai kept painting on, capturing all the colors in front of him, from the blue sky to colorful rainbow of flowers, not being phased by anything.

'_Maybe I should… no… I guess I should… but…'_ she kept debating with herself but after a few minutes of thinking, she looked over at Sai's painting and she smiled to herself, because in the painting was her. Sai painted her in a pretty lilac dress while she is shin deep in the lake. She smiled at how pretty he made her look. She had always wanted to look pretty. But because she had to hide her true gender for so long, she never had the chance too. Finally, she decided to speak.

"My… my name is… Ruri." She quickly glanced at him a couple times as she blushed.

"That's a pretty name." Sai politely smiled back at her. She blushed again and looked down at her hands as she clenched the edge of her wet shirt.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Sai questioned as he kept painting.

"No…" she said very timidly.

"Well, if you ever need help finding a place in Konoha, I'll show ya around." He smiles his awkward smile again. She looks at him timidly but then lightly smiles and blushes.

"You were named after your eyes." He says to her.

"…" she looks at him surprised.

"They're very green. Like the color of a glimmering emerald." He smiles as he paints in her eyes. She blushes again. But then remembering memories of her past changed her face. She looked down, sadly, remembering her life changing incident. Sai noticed how her mood changed.

"I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong? I apologize if I said something that bothered you." He stopped painting and looked at her. Ruri perked up,

"Oh! No, I'm fine. You said nothing wrong." She told him reassuringly. She smiled politely and looked at his painting again. She looked at it happily, noticing the detail he put into everything in the painting.

"You paint beautifully." She said admiringly.

"Thank you. It's my passion." He continued finishing the painting with a smile.

"When I was little…" Ruri paused for a second, wondering if she should continue. He stopped painting again and looked at her, as though telling her to continue.

"When I was little… I loved drawing… but I was never good at it." She scoffed at herself.

"It's not whether you're good or not. What matters is that you show your inspirations and feelings how ever you can... I can teach you if you'd like. Anyone can learn to draw; it just takes practice." Sai smiled at her then continued painting. She smiled lightly and nodded shyly. Sai then continued to ask Ruri about her family. She smiled to herself and told him about her sisters and her father. She felt at liberty to ask him the same in which he answered that he had a brother once, but now he only has good friends and smiles to himself.

"That's nice. Friends… are like family she says." She smiled as she looked up at the sky, reminiscing. She then gets her hair tie and pulls her hair back into a ponytail.

"Well, I must go now. My sister's waiting for me." She looked at him curiously, waiting to see what he would do or say.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Ruri. Please, come back and watch me paint again someday. You brought inspiration in me today." she blushes hard as he smiles politely at her. She then smiles back, nods back at him and gets up.

"… Bye Sai." She starts walking away.

"See ya later, Ruri." He waves at her then keeps finishing the scenery in the painting.

* * *

Kiyoshi arrives where he had left Imao washing clothes. She was done putting the washed clothes in the bag.

"So, anything interesting happen to you today?" Imao asked curiously. Kiyoshi smiles to himself as he helps Imao up. He picks up the bag of clothes and begins walking with Imao back to their house.

"Sorta. Today… I saw… a beautiful scenery."


	5. Chapter 4 2

**Ch. 4.2 – Imai's new friend**

It's mid-day and the sun shines bright in the sky.

_Sigh…_ "I am soooo bored!! We've been here ONE WEEK! It feels like we've done nothing!! What's there to do here?" Imai said frustrated and paced around the kitchen/dining room.  
"Father, I need to get outta here! Could I PLEASE just go out by myself!?" She pleaded.

"… Take Imao and Kiyoshi with you." He said not caring.

She grit her teeth and let out a huge grunt,  
"Ugh!! Why!? They're not even here! I don't want to wait for them!! By the time they get here, it'll be night time!" Imai tried hard to contain her frustration and hoped to convince her father.

"Fine. Do as you wish. But do not get into any problems with anyone. You know the consequences." Her father warned her. She gleemed with joy and trotted out,

"Thank you father!! See you later!" and she dashed out of the house and towards Konoha.

* * *

"Hmmm, hmmm…" she hummed a little tune to herself as she walked happily, with her hands behind her head, in search of new places to claim her own.

"Oooh! That looks like a nice place to train." Imai found a small open area with trees that covered around it so she could train without anyone bothering. She began doing flips and attacking the trees to the degree where she could break them but stopped herself right before she did. She played around with her kunai and shuriken in her hands and finally got rid of them by nonchalantly throwing them in random directions, which each hit the middle of the trunk of the trees around.

"Hmph! Still got it." _YAWN!_ "I think I'll take a snooze now." She looked around for any comfortable spot when she spotted a shaggy white rug near a tree.  
"That looks like a good spot." She gets right in front of the fluffy rug, turns around and plops herself right on top of it.

_YEALP!!_

"What in the wo…!?!?" Imai jumps up and quickly backs away and prepares to attack what she sat on. But she then realizes that what she thought was a fluffy rug was just a big dog lying down. The dog stands ready to attack and growls at her,

"Figures… Well, sorry to have disrupted your slumber there pal." She says, trying to make peace with the dog. The dog stops growling and happily whines as though accepting the apology.

"Wow, you understood me." Imai smiled, "You're one smart dog. I like smart animals." She goes toward him extending her hand to his nose. The dog smells her, then licks her hand. Imai giggles and start petting it. She then begins to play catch with it, throwing sticks as fast as she can, which the dog would catch all of them. Eventually she would throw a bunch of sticks in different directions and the dog still managed to catch them all.

"You must be some dog, huh!?" The dog wagged its tail happily as it retrieved every single stick in its mouth. Imai giggled but then stopped. She felt someone was coming towards her direction.

"Well, doggy, it's now or never. You wanna come home with me?" The dog whined and looked sad.

"You don't want to come with me? But I thought you liked me?" The dog whined again and sits down.

"Fine. You're loss dog…" she tells it in a sharp tone and starts walking away but stops and turns around. She looks at the whinning dog sympathetically but then smiles.

"Come're!" she extends her arms open as the dog runs to her and knocks her down. He licks her face as she giggles. After a minute she gets up and pets the dog one last time. She feels that the presence she felt earlier was nearer.

"Well, time to go doggy. Thanks for playing with me! Hope you find your home." She smiled and started walking away but not even half a minute passed before the person she felt earlier arrived.

"Hey!" He called out.

"Hey to you." She turned around, swinging her hip as her hand landed on to the side of it.

"I met you before, right? Isn't your name Imao?" he questioned her. She glared heavily at him… but because she wanted to make a good impression she politely corrected him.

" Uh… no… it's Imai. Imao is my ugg… (grits her teeth) she's my sister. We're twins."

"Really? That's cool." The guy responds.

"Yeah… sure." She rolls her eyes and looks at the ground. The guy observes her slim, athletic physique. She surely wasn't Imao. Plus, she could clearly see him.

"Well, my name's Kiba. Kiba Inuzuka." He proudly announces to her.

"That's nice." She says blankly, making him think as though she didn't care. Kiba looked at the dog, smiled and winked, and the dog "smiled" back. He starts walking towards the dog.

"So, what brings you around here? You train?" he curiously asks.

"Yeah, I was training. I'm not a ninja or anything but I love being able to move like one. I like taking on challenges. So, if you ever want, try me." She smirked slyly. Kiba smirked and quickly said,

"Nah, I only fight and train when I have to. Otherwise, I like having time to relax. Me and Akamaru usually come here for that." He looks and smiles at Akamaru.

_BARK! _Akamaru wags his tail. Imai stars walking towards them and stops in front of Akamaru.

"So! You're name's Akamaru? That's an awesome name. I wish I had a dog like you. Cute but tough!" She pets him on his head as he sat down and then scratched him behind his ear. Akamaru barks and keeps wagging his tail. Kiba notices how well Imai treats Akamaru. He had never seen Akamaru become so friendly with a stranger so quickly. _'Well, she is cute.'_ He smirked. Imai giggles as Akamaru licks her cheek. She looks back at Kiba and notices he had been checking her out. She smirks and Kiba quickly looks away while he slightly blushed. Afterwards, Kiba starts asking her more questions about herself and they commence a small conversation.

* * *

Time passed and the sun was setting.

"Well, Akamaru, I think it's time to go. Come on." Akamaru whines a little but gets up from lying down and walks towards Kiba. "Well, umm… I guess I'll see ya around then." Kiba looks at her from the side.

"I guess. See ya." She turns around and starts walking in the opposite direction. _'5, 4, 3, 2, 1…'_

"Wait! Umm…." Kiba stopped himself before he said something stupid. Imai smirked, quickly wiped her smirk off and turned around with a questioning face, as though she didn't know what was going to happen.

"Well, umm… I'm gonna be coming here to train tomorrow." He declares.

"And…?" she keeps looking at him in question.

"I… We could use a sparing partner. You should come train… if you want." Akamaru barks and looks happily at Kiba.

"Umm… we'll see." Imai turns around and smiles to herself.

Kiba smirks, "Let's go Akamaru." They both walk towards where they came from and disappear.

'_I hope… she comes to train again.'_


	6. Ruri's Story

**Ruri's Story  
_____________________________________________________________________________________**

The clouds were very dark and the rain fell like needles. The thunder rumbled across the sky and a chilling wind blew through their coats. The Tanaka family kept walking, not letting anything get in there way. The father kept ahead as the 3 sisters huddled closer together to gain more warmth. They had been travelling for days, without any proper rest. They were tired, cold and hungry.

"Father! Can we stop somewhere!?" shouted Yasuko as the wind took her words in another direction. The father stopped and turned towards them.

"We'll stop at the next village. It isn't that far from here." He turned around and kept walking in the direction he was going.

---

After a few minutes, the rain calmed down and they arrived at a broken arc – the entrance to the village. The girls stopped and looked in horror. Imao could sense the tragedy that was before her. The village was completely devastated; there was not one single building standing. Corpses lay everywhere in the rubble and from the looks of them it was about a week or so when the disaster happened.

"Let's keep going." The father continued walking, not being fazed by what surrounded him. The young twins hung to Yasuko scared and upset.

"Can't we go around?" Yasuko pleaded. Her father ignored her and continued walking through the remains of the village. The girls unwillingly followed, hoping to pass through the horrible place as soon as they could.

After a few minutes of walking through, Imai let go of Yasuko and became curious and started looking around. Imao still held on to Yasuko's hand and avoided trying to sense her surroundings. As Imai kept looking around in the rubble, she noticed something move. She saw a small little child sitting down next to a wrecked house, hugging her knees, shaking from the ice cold rain hitting her skin and from the unknown tragic event that had occurred in the village. Imai looked at the kid shamefully. Imao also felt the presence of the child, as she felt her sister being so curious. She let go of Yasuko and stumbled towards that direction with help in mind but the little child noticed her and began to move away from her. The piercing emerald green eyes stared in fear at Imao, but because of her lack of vision she didn't realize she was scaring the little kid. But even so she managed to get close and wrapped a blanket she had worn outside of her coat around the weak, drenched, little body. The child's wide fearful eyes slowly became sad and sorrowful. Imao could feel this change of emotion and she hugged the little kid.

"Take care of yourself," and she got up from her knees and started to make her way through the destruction. As she walked away, she felt a pull on her hand.

"Don't go." A quiet, little voice said. "Please…"

Imao 'looked' in the direction of the child and felt compassion for the helpless kid. She just couldn't leave the child in the cold rain all alone after losing everything the kid had …

"What's your name?" Imao hoped she'd get a response.

"… Ruri." Imao figured out that this child was a girl and felt disheartened at the news. She knew her father would not accept another female child in his family, especially one that wasn't of blood relation.

"From now on... You're name's Kiyoshi. Father will take you in that way. You'll be the brother we never had." The girl looked down sadly and finally up at Imao and nodded. This was the only way she could survive. By living a lie… but it was worth it. Someone actually stopped and noticed her, cared enough to offer her a home - to start a new life. But all she really wanted… was to have a family again. Imao quickly paced herself towards the direction of her father, carefully making her way over and through debris from the building wreckage.

"Father!" she yelled out.

"…?" he stopped and looked towards where she was.

"Father, I found a little child in the wreckage. The child needs a home. May we please bring'em along with us?" she pleaded almost breathlessly.

"We don't need another mouth to feed." He turned away from and started walking again.

"But he's all alone and has nothing left here." She begged.

"He…?" he paused and gave a little interest.

"Yes. His name is Kiyoshi." She smiled weakly, even as the cold rain starting falling as hard as hail.

"… Do as you wish. But you will be responsible for his care." Her father then began walking away again. Imai followed behind but without first giving Imao an awkward look. Yasuko, on the other hand, smiled kindly at Imao and waited for her and the new member of their family. Imao gleamed with happiness,

"Thank you, father!" and then quickly went back to the little girl, almost tripping on some fallen rubble. She got to the little girl, and put her hand over Ruri's shoulder.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to you. I'll protect you; you'll be my little brother." Imao smiled and took 'Kiyoshi' by the hand. Ruri smiled and felt a sense of belonging. She found her new home… but would never forget her old one.


	7. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5 – The boy with Love on his face  
**

* * *

"Feels like a good day… the sun makes it feel nice to be outside." Imao proclaimed to herself. She was off to look for a place to wash her family's clothing again. Imao walked around carrying a bag with a full load of clothes in front of her as she hummed, hoping to find a stream of water around; possibly the creek she and Kiyoshi found the week before. After a few long minutes of wandering around aimlessly, she decides to stop and listen. Her humming wasn't her only interesting technique she inherited because of her blindness. She also had other heightened senses, and her best one was her hearing. She stood there and listened for a while. Finally she could hear it, the trickling of water. She smiled to herself and began walking in the direction of the sound.

* * *

After another few minutes Imao arrives near a small stream. The sun shined openly on it and made the small open area very warm and quaint. She sat down in front of the side of the stream and placed her bag of laundry next to her. She began to hum a tune to herself as well as to detect anything around her. She had the whole place to herself, and she began washing the clothes.

---

'_I wonder how all of this will go.'_ The young man wondered to himself. He kept wandering around, questioning the thoughts in his head.

'_Can I really go through with it?_

'_Will it do any good to my village?'_

As the young man kept wandering around the woods, lost in his thoughts, he hears something…

'_Humming?... Hmmm…'_ He stopped behind a tree and looked towards the direction of the humming. He could see a figure of a girl sitting in front of a creek. The rays of the sun shined down around her and made everything glow around her. He kept looking, as though in a trance by the way everything looked. He felt at peace… not only by what he saw but mostly by what he heard. The girl's humming seemed to have calmed his thinking and put him at ease. He stayed there watching her…

---

"You know, you can get a better look at me if you weren't so far away." Imao taunted, realizing someone was watching her. He looked surprised as she said this. He didn't know whether to approach her or to just leave her be. So, he decided to leave her alone and started walking away.

"I didn't mean to scare you off. I just didn't know whether you were a threat or not." She replied to her feeling a decrease in the presence. He stopped and looked back.

"If you'd like I could leave and you can have this area to yourself. Anyways, I'm pretty much done washing clothes." She starts gathering her things when she feels the person walking towards her. She stays alert just incase the person tries something but keeps her cool and continues putting her stuff away. He then stops a few feet away from her side and looks down at her. She stops and readies herself.

"That's not necessary." He says to her in a calm but distant voice. "You don't have to leave." He sits down close to the creek and looks at her from the side. Imao didn't know what to do. He seemed too calm but yet… she felt she could trust him.

"Well, thank you." She said as she looked in his direction then continued packing her laundry in the bag. He was really quiet, as he stared at the creek for a few minutes, and Imao felt awkward not befriending him so she tried starting a conversation.

"So, do you come here often?" she questioned with a smile.

"No." he responded listlessly and kept looking at the creek.

"Oh… so, you're just passing by? Resting for the moment?" she asked.

"Sort of." He replied.

"Oh." She couldn't understand why he wouldn't talk. He didn't seem bothered but just uninterested. So she tried to give it one more try, and this time she asked something she believed he couldn't reply a small and simple answer.

"So, what brings you to this area?" She had a hope he'd finally talk.

"Confidential matters." He responded.

"Oh… I see." '_Darn! Bad question… oh well, I tried.'_ Imao looked disappointed but shrugged it off and started humming so she could finish putting her things together. He then perked up and looked at her. He had noticed how she hummed.

"You're blind, aren't you?" he questioned her. Imao had a surprised face as she looked his way.

"How did you know?" she said confused. She couldn't believe how quickly this young man had found out. '_Has he been spying on me longer than I noticed?'_

"I noticed how you grab things around you." He looked at her hands.

"Oh… I didn't think it was obvious. A lot of people don't realize it that fast." She said apprehensively. Imao kept putting her laundry away and hummed as usual.

"Interesting." He replied vaguely.

"I guess." She began to wonder whether or not she should stay any longer. _'I don't really have a reason to stay… It's not like he wants to talk to me... I wonder why he's here though…'_ Imao shrugged and decided it was time to leave. She finished collecting her laundry and placed it all in her bag. _'Well, I guess that's it…'_ Imao got up carefully, with the handles of her bag in her hand, managing to keep her balance. The young man notices.

"Can I ask you something?" he looked out at the creek again.

"Sure. Go ahead." Imao looks at him curiously. He thinks for a bit and finally asks,

"Is it possible to fall in love with someone you know nothing about?" he looks at her concerned. She puts her bag down, still holding on to the handles, and thinks for a bit. The question caught her off guard but finally thinks up an answer.

"Hmmm… I believe you're thinking about 'Love at first sight'… whether I believe it myself, I'm not sure. I supposed it happens to some but personally, I feel a bond must be created first between two people, which in turn a bond takes time to develop." She looks down towards the stream, sadly. _'Hmm… I wonder what that's like… to fall in love…'_ Her thoughts are then interrupted.

"Could two beings live in harmony without first learning who they are?" he asks concerned as he sees two birds arrive on the shallow part of the creek and acknowledge each others' presence without any conflict.

"It's possible." She looks in the direction of the creek. The young man looks at her as though surprised by her answer but lets her continue,

"Like a roommate. You don't have to talk to them if you don't want and just go on with life in peace with them, even though you don't bother to learn anything about them. But even still… there are people you cannot avoid getting to know and eventually you learn more about them than you wanted to." She looks towards him, sure of herself.

"To be honest, I have a little brother… but he isn't my real brother. I took him in when I found him one day, not knowing who he was. Even though he knew nothing about me, he immediately confided in me, put his whole trust in me; eventually we bonded and now live peacefully ever since. So… yes, two beings can live in harmony without knowing each other from the start. But then there are those who, even if you try to stay away from, will never let you live in peace. My sister is a good example of that. I've tried so hard to befriend her, to learn who she is… but she hates me. She can't even stand listening to one single word that comes out of my mouth. I don't understand why… so, I try to just leave her be… but even so, she always manages to put me and my little brother down for her own entertainment. I guess you could say that she's one person that would answer no to your question. But really, there are so many people in this world that it's hard to know what will happen. Everyone's different and therefore, you'll get different experiences with whom ever you meet." She smiles to herself and picks up her bag again. The young man looks up at her, pleased with her answers. He stands up and walks closer to her. Imao perks up.

"Thank you. You're words are very insightful." He smiles politely at her. She feels his satisfaction and smiles back.

"Would you like help?" he asks as he looks at her swaying a little off balance from the weight of the bag of still wet laundry.

"Oh. I don't mind but I wouldn't want to bother you…" she stops as he takes the bag out of her hands.

"Let's go. I'll follow you." He waits on her patiently. Imao looks at him surprised but then shrugs it off and smiles.

"Are you sure you want to carry that? You seem to be already carrying something heavy." She senses an object on his back.

"I have it with me all the time." He carries the laundry bag in front of him with ease. "I'll be fine." She smiles at him with gratitude and they commence walking and keep conversing.

---

The young man and Imao arrive close by her house, but because her father doesn't like anyone that isn't family being near there, she explained, they had to stop at a distance where some trees covered them.

"Well, thank you for your company as well as your help." She turned towards him, with a polite smile, and extended her hands, as thought asking for her bag back. He took her hands softly in his and carefully slid the handles in them. She looked at him surprised and blushed.

"Got it?" he let go of the bag and stepped back.

"Uhh… yes… thank you." She looked slightly down and smiled timidly.

"Take care of yourself." He started on his way.

"Wait." She stopped and thought to herself a second.

"Umm… before you leave, I was wondering, would it be alright with you if I touched your face? Although I can see some outlines of shapes because of my humming, I still can't see anything and using my hands helps me to have a better image. But if you're not comfortable, I'll understand." She looks at him with a polite smile on her face.

"It's fine. You can." He got closer to her and lowered his face a little. She put her hands lightly over his cheeks and started to feel his face. Her fingers outlined his lips, then his eyes. She felt his ears and ran her fingers through his hair. He shivered a little at the sensation of having someone touch him but continued to stay still for her. Then one of her hands felt his forehead. She lightly traces her finger over a mark he has.

"Love…" she said quietly. He then grabs her wrist delicately and steps away from her. She looked at him a bit startled at his reaction.

"Did I do something wrong?" she looked at him concerned.

"No." he said coldly. She rubbed her wristed as she thought to herself.

"Is it a battle scar?" she asked concerned.

"… It's nothing." He turned his face away from her, feeling bothered by her action.

"I see… farewell." She gripped the handles of her bag and looked down sadly. She turned towards her house but then stopped and remembered she didn't know his name.

"… My name's Imao. Imao Tanaka. It was nice talking to you… ummm…" she stammered a bit in hopes that maybe he would give her his name.

"Gaara. My name's Gaara and the feeling is mutual." He smiled politely even though he knew she couldn't see him. She nodded back with a smile knowing there were no hard feelings from the small incident.

"Well… goodbye. Maybe we could meet again someday soon." She walks slowly toward her house, smiling curiously to herself as their distance grew larger.

"Maybe." He turned his face towards her with the tiniest smirk on his face and finally walked away, down the road to the Konoha Village.


	8. Chapter 6 1

******Author's Note******

Just wanted to note a couple things. First, I've come to realize that there are some discrepancies in the story (meaning my writing doesn't always concord with itself, and it's mostly because I "forget" that Imao is blind and she can't necessarily 'notice' or 'see' something or someone) and I wanted to apologize for that incase I have made mistakes in any of the chapters and created any confusion. (BTW, I'm still looking for a Beat Reader) In all honesty, it's kinda hard for me since I have no story writing experience as well as not writing so often. Another thing, there have been a lot of family issues lately that have been affecting me quite seriously in many ways for the last few months. But I'm hoping that this new year brings peace and happiness in my home and hopefully everything gets better. And so, here is my new chapter. Enjoy! (P.S. - It's kinda long. Lol!)

**Ch. 6.1 – Happiness and Strength**

"It's another beautiful day!" Imao smiled to herself. She continued walking among the trees as she hummed a nice little melody. She arrived at the little creek from the day before. She stood still, closed her eyes and looked up. She felt the sun rays warm her face. _'If only I could see it…'_ She smiled and continued walking around. _'I wonder if…'_ She curiously began to search around her. _'Hmmm… I guess he's not here.'_ She looked a little saddened but shrugged it off and continued her walk. She began to remember the conversation she had with him. He seemed to be troubled but talking with him brought a sense of satisfaction for both of them. Imao hadn't had an intellectual conversation with anyone in a long time. She smiled to herself and continued to reminisce a little more as she walked along the creek.

---

After walking around for about an hour, Imao sat down against a tree to rest. She leaned her head back against the big tree and closed her eyes. With every deep breath she took, she felt more and more relaxed…

"So, you're here." She woke up startled as a voice next to her echoed in her right ear. She was so surprised that she didn't feel him sit next to her against the tree meanwhile she was resting. She turned towards him.

"Gaara?" She asked not remembering too well the voice she had just heard.

"Hmm?" He side-looked at her kinda funny.

"Oh… I didn't think you would come back here. You scared me – I didn't feel your presence." She felt a little embarrassed as she could feel that he expected her to be more aware of her surroundings, like she was the day before. He lightly smiled.

"So what brings you back here?" She asked as she recalled that he wasn't from the village.

"I will be staying in Konoha for the next 2 weeks… Unfortunately, there are some issues I must tend to here but I'm hoping all will go well." He looked at her to see how she would react to the news. Imao just gave a simple smiled,

"Well, you should make the best out of your stay then." He looked at her happy expression and tried to analyze it. He wasn't sure if it meant anything but he was curious… maybe a little too curious.

"You don't seem glad." He blurted out then quickly thought, _'Why did I say that?'_ Imao had a baffled expression on her face.

"Should I be glad?" She clearly didn't understand the question and Gaara just shrugged it off.

"Never mind. I was just thinking it would be nice to chat with you again, if you don't mind." He eyed her from the side and waited for a response.

"Well, I apologize but I have errands today. Maybe you could come along and we could talk on the way to the city…" She sensed some aggravation as he interrupted.

"It's fine." He said coldly. Gaara stood up and started walking off.

"W-w-wait!" Imao got up quickly and stumbled in his direction. He stopped and turned around towards her, looking at her as if she was wasting his valuable time.

"Maybe tomorrow in the morning we could converse again. Is that ok?" She looked up at him with a weak smile, hoping he'd agree.

"I don't think so." He said so bluntly Imao almost whimpered.

"Oh… ok. I guess… I'll see you around… maybe…" she hung her head, saddened that her new friend was being so harsh. Gaara turned around and continued walking slowly with a slight grin.

"How about tomorrow in the afternoon?" he said strongly without shouting. Imao turned around, pleased she had not upset her friend.

"Okay! Well, meet here tomorrow afternoon!" She spoke loudly in his direction. She smiled to herself and sighed. Gaara continued to walk into the forest meanwhile Imao went in the direction of the city.

**---**

After finishing her errands in the city, Imao makes her way home. She kept thinking to herself of what tomorrow was to bring. As she comes near her house she can sense someone waving wildly at her.

"Hey Imao!! Where were you!?" Naruto shouted loudly.

"Uhh… well, I w…" She was caught totally off guard and blushed.

"Wow, I've never seen you like that before. So, what? Were you thinking about someone?" Naruto teased. Imao tried to think of something else to say but instead just nervously smiled. Naruto looked at her suspiciously, Imao had never acted like that before.

"Ummm... Let's go take a walk, shall we?" Imao came closer to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him into the other direction.

"Uh, ok…" Naruto looked at her funny but shrugged it off.

After a minute of walking away from her house, Imao couldn't hold it in anymore. She released his arm and took a deep breath.

"Naruto… have you ever met someone from the opposite sex and felt a special connection with them?" She looked in Naruto's direction and looked curiously at him as they kept walking. Naruto blushed and looked at her nervously.

"Umm… I… well, uh… yeah…" He turned his face away for her.

"Is it normal to feel like that? ... To feel really fond of someone?" She asked unsure of herself.

"Of course it is! It happens to everyone." He smiled and saw a place where they could sit and talk more relaxed. He grabbed Imao's arm and took her to sit down on a rock meanwhile he sat on the ground next to her. She looked at him a little surprised but grateful.

"Well, I've just recently started talking to this guy but… I've never gotten along with someone so well. It feels so strange." Imao begins to ponder about these new feelings she's never had before.

"Well... maybe you should tell him…" Naruto blushed and turned away again.

"Really? You think so? He doesn't seem the type to share thoughts about his emotions." She looked at Naruto surprised. Some how he managed to figure out that the minor description she gave didn't sound like him.

"Who are you talking about?" Naruto looked up at her confused.

"Well, I don't know if you know him but… his name's Gaara. I met him in the forest yesterday." She looked ahead of herself and smiled to herself. Naruto's jaw dropped.

"WHAT!?! You like Gaara!?!?" He looked at her baffled and then kind of disappointed at the fact it wasn't him she was talking about.

"'Like'? What do you mean by 'like'?" She looked down at him curiously again.

"You know, when you like someone." She still looked at him confused.

"As in you like them as more than a friend, like… a boyfriend." He concluded meanwhile he crossed his arms together in a grumpy pose.

"A… boyfriend…?... N-no… I, I don't think so…" Imao blushed but shrugged it off. She then realized that Naruto knew him.

"So… I supposed you know him then?" She asked even though she knew the answer.

"Yeah…" Naruto responded dissatisfied.

"So, what do you think about him?" Imao looked at Naruto curiously, hoping to possibly learn something new about Gaara.

"Actually, I don't think much of him... although he is the kaz..." He blurted out but then was interrupted.

"Really? Has he done something to you? Has he done something wrong?" Imao's eyes widened as she questioned him a bit concerned – realizing she could've been in danger any of the times she was around Gaara.

"Well… no. I mean, he's a good guy but he's kinda… odd, I guess." Naruto tried to figure out his thoughts about him.

"Oh. Well, that's good. I'm glad he's not too mysterious… though I do find him quite… interesting." She smiled to herself.

"REALLY!?!? You really think he's interesting!?" He looked at her in complete awe.

"Well, I mean… it's nice to have an intellectual conversation with someone once in a while." Naruto looked at her as though being accused of being an idiot, and then changed to a disgruntled pout. Imao sensed his irritation and quickly corrected herself.

"Don't get me wrong! I mean you're a fun person to hang out with… but I do need to be able to express my thoughts and feelings with someone with a larger intellec… knowle…. Vocabulary!" She smiled at Naruto nervously. Naruto glared back at her - she could feel his grouchiness.

"I'm probably smarter than him…" Naruto mumbled under his breath.

"I think we should go back now." She said smiling weakly. They both got up and started back to her home. Naruto kept pouting as they walked back to Imao's home. Imao and Naruto said their goodbyes and Imao went into her home, greeted her family and went into the kitchen - which was also used as the dining room - to start preparing dinner.

"Sooooo… where were you?" Imai came up behind Imao as she added ingredients to a large pot.

"Oh, I went for a walk with Naruto." She smiled and began stirring the pot. Imai then got close to her sisters ear and grinned deviously.

"… Liar… You went to meet with another guy." Imai whispered. Imao's eyes widened and her smile died. She stood there petrified.

"I overheard you telling Naruto about him." She walked around the kitchen with an investigative look on her face. Imao let go of the ladle and looked at Imai with anger.

"How dare you listen to a private conversa…" Imai then interrupted her.

"What do you think father would do if he just, oh I don't know, HAPPENED to find out that you go out just to meet with a boy?" Imai placed her elbows on the table as she supported her grinning face on the knuckles of her fists.

"Please don't!" Imao turned and pleaded.

"Do my chores for the next month and I'll keep it a secret… 'til then that is." Imai demanded knowing she had the upper hand. Imao's face went from worried to sad as she realize that more chores would mean less personal time that she could use to go out more often.

"Fine." She looked down sadly at the cooking pot and continued stirring. Imai snickered as she walked out of the kitchen.

___________________________________

The next day came – the sun had been out for about an hour and Imai decided to leave to Konoha. She goes in search of the so-called Gaara so she can catch him before he meets with Imao to maybe cause a little stir in her twin sister's life. After a few minutes of running toward Konoha, she sees an odd looking guy walking out of Konoha. He was completely not her type but after secretly following him for a few minutes she figures out it must be him. She positions herself facing him as though she had come from the direction of her house.

"Hi there! How are you?" She walked towards him, smiling. Gaara looked at her a little surprised. She was right; it was the guy Imao was meeting.

"So, what are you up to?" she looked at him pretending to be curious.

"Nothing." He eyed her and started walking in the direction of the creek. Imai follows closely behind him.

"Well, let's go do something fun then." Imai wraps her arms around him and pulls him towards the other direction. Gaara looks down at her with extreme discomfort.

"Let go." His pushed the words out of his gritting teeth. Imai almost pushed herself off of him from being startle by his expression. Gaara kept looking at her bothered by her action.

"Imao doesn't do such things to me. Plus, I know you were following me since earlier. What do you want?" Gaara unwrinkled his clothes as he waited for an answer.

"Hmph… well, I tried. I just thought it would've be fun to play around with you. But you're not dumb like that Naruto guy." Imai said obnoxiously. Gaara starts walking away.

"Hey! Imao's just a lame nobody. There's nothing to her. She's doesn't train or anything, she's weak. If she was more like me she'd be more useful." She followed behind him. She noted by the way he was dressed that he must be a ninja from another country.

"You're a ninja and you need a woman that's strong and can fend for herself. She can't even see! Eventually she's just gonna get killed becau…" Imai's obnoxious rant was cut off.

"Although I don't have to give you any explanations, I will tell you that I have no interest in your sister as more than a friend and it's true that if you can't fend for yourself and find yourself in a predicament, it can be fatal." Gaara paused and turned around. Imai stopped right in front of him ready to give more rants but right then Gaara slightly smirked and finished his response.

" But... strength without knowledge isn't any use to anyone." Gaara turned around and walked away. Imai glared at him and gave a loud angry grunt of frustration. She clearly understood that he had just called her a useless idiot.

"UGH!! He speaks just like her!!!" Imai then continued to go on her way to Konoha to forget the incident she had just had.

---

A few hours later, Imao and Gaara meet again. They spend all afternoon talking – going from their likes and dislikes (the small incident Gaara had with Imai) to their thoughts about how life is perceived. By the time it was sundown, they still hadn't finished talking but Imao realized it was time for her to get back home. Gaara accompanied her until they got within a good enough distance where he couldn't be seen and bid her farewell. She smiled and went into her house

---

As Imao enters, she senses Imai stomping around the kitchen. Imao giggles to herself and goes straight to preparing dinner. Imai sees notices Imao entering quiet but happily and she figured it was because of the guy she has been hanging out with. She felt a little too pissed and had to take it out on her sister some how. So, she began to rant about the incident she had in an obnoxious way.

"You know, your little boyfriend tried hitting on me." Imai said taunting Imao. Imao smiled and scoffed.

"He tried to grab me and kiss me." Imao became a little irritated knowing that her sister was clearly lying and exaggerating.

" Honestly, if I didn't train, who knows what would have happened. Maybe he could've taken me hostage or even rap…" Imao aggravation increased and snapped in a second - realizing how unfair Imai was being.

"Imai! What is your problem? Why must you try to make things so difficult for me and the people I befriend!? Don't you have anything else better to do?" Imao had just about enough of her sister's lies and annoyance.

"Wow, you must really like him then! Well, to tell you the truth…" Imai tried to mock her sister but was interrupted once more.

"NO! To tell YOU the truth, I'm tired of your crap!" Imai looked at Imao in awe.

"I'm tired of all the bull crap you pull. Why don't you go train, spar or whatever else you do that keeps you away from this house? That way I don't have to hear your mouth open until dinner time!" Imao glared at Imai for a few seconds then turned around to continue cooking. Imai stayed paralyzed, trying to process what had just happened. She didn't know what to say. She stood there, baffled by how Imao had just completely squashed her down to size, metaphorically. Imai then became very angry and glared at Imao. Imao just kept ignoring her, as she hummed and cooked. Imai paced her way to the entrance to the hallway and gave Imai her last few thoughts before she went to her bedroom.

"You'll get what's coming to you… sooner or later… you're gonna get it!" Imai grits her teeth and turned away into the hallway - she brushed Kiyoshi as she turned and almost knocked him down. Kiyoshi turned to see how Imai huffed and puffed into her bedroom and slammed her bedroom door. Kiyoshi shrugged and continued into the kitchen to help Imao with dinner.


	9. Chapter 6 2

**Ch. 6.2 – Decisions of Love**

As the days pass, Gaara and Imao continue to meet for their daily intellectual conversations; their bond grows closer and stronger. They find that they have many things in common as well as enjoy some of the same hobbies. Imao had never thought that she would ever meet anyone that could connect with her in so many levels… especially a guy. All of the traveling that her family had done since she was a child never allowed her to make friends but it seemed as though fate has allowed her to enjoy this new experience for once in her life.

One afternoon, as they were going on their daily 'walk-n-talk' Gaara decides to convince her into taking a new path where it would take them to a place that would please her senses. Imao was a little skeptical at first but agreed to let him guide her. After a few minutes of walking around aimlessly- but following Gaara close behind- Imao began to wonder where exactly he was taking her.

'_Is it a food stall?... or maybe a incense shop?...'_ Imao pondered.

But to her surprise it wasn't what she expected. Gaara had taken her to a beautiful meadow full of every kind of flower from the forest. As Imao took a breath in, she could smell all the different fragrances all around her. She closed her eyes and only imagined what it must all look like. She smiled as her nose filled with alluring fragrances and her skin warmed in the bright sun. Imao became entranced as she focused on one particular scent and began to follow it. She then stopped near a plant with many pretty little flowers and took in a big sniff.

"It smells so beautiful and so strong! Like Vanilla…" she looked over at Gaara's direction and smiled.

"Maybe it'll rain. As the saying says, 'Flowers are more fragrant before rain.'" Gaara lightly smiled.

"Very funny… as if there are rain clouds up in the sky." Imao looked up as she sensed no humidity and the bright sun continued to shine on down on her skin. She sat down next to the plant and continued to enjoy the pleasant smells that were around her. Gaara smiled to himself as he looked around him, seeing all the bright and saturated colors of all the flowers. He'd never felt so relaxed before… he felt at peace. He then sat across from Imao, still keeping some distance but close enough to talk to each other.

"How did you find this place?" Imao questioned as she kept sniffing at ever flower around her.

"I was walking around one day and just stumbled upon it." Gaara chuckled as he watched Imao act like a kid in a candy store. Imao's face gleamed with satisfaction.

"Thank you. I really appreciate this." Imao smiled happily at Gaara.

"No problem… I just thought you might like it… I mean, I don't usually do these things for people." Gaara tried not to sound like he actually meant to find a place just for Imao. He looked off to the side.

"I understand… especially when you don't have any friends, what's the point in doing anything nice? Right? Sometimes I wish I could be like that… have the ability to not care for others when I don't want to… But… I guess, for me, it's just not in my nature." Imao seemed to have hit the nail on the head. Gaara shuffled a bit and stared out into the valley.

"It's hard to find someone you can really trust now-a-days." He lay back against a tree that was behind him and crossed his arms infront of his chest.

"Maybe you just need to look harder until you do find someone." Imao brightly smiled at him.

"I… I think I have… you know… To be honest, when I meet with you, I forget about my duties and responsibilities. You help me to feel less… stressed or worried. And the most interesting part of this is that I've never been able to share any of my true thoughts about anything with anyone... until I met you." Gaara gazed up at the sky, took a deep breath in and smiled at his own realization.

Imao blushed lightly but felt very happy after hearing what he had just said, but just as she was about to reply to his comment, a rumble of thunder startled her. Imao looked up wondering. A single drop splashed on her face and after a few seconds of silence and waiting, it began to pour all around them.

"Oh no! We have to get out of here!" Imao alerted Gaara. He then gets up and grabs Imao by the wrist and yanks her up. They both start running, Gaara almost dragging Imao, in search for a place to keep them dry. The thunder rumbled loudly, as though telling the rain to fall harder and increase in amount. Imao could've sworn they could've drown with so much water falling from the sky. After a few minutes of searching, Gaara sees a small cave in which they could wait out the rain. Gaara helped Imao cross over some rocks, where a small creek was forming, in order to reach the cave. They finally get inside the cave and they both giggle as they realize how utterly ironic the whole situation was. Gaara then looked around and noted how cold and dark the cave was. Imao managed to sit down on the dusty ground and tried her best to wring her rain-soaked clothes in order to dry herself, meanwhile Gaara looked for some dry brush and pieces of wood to make a small fire so they can both keep warm. Gaara was able to find some good essentials and starts a small fire close by Imao.

"The closer you are the warmer you'll get, right?" Gaara politely asks and sits down close by her. Imao slightly blushes but nods with a smile, agreeing to his analogy.

As he positions himself better, his right pinky finger lightly lands on top of Imao's left pinky. He pulls his hand back and looks at her, hoping she hadn't felt that. But unfortunately for him, Imao was looking straight into his eyes startled and embarrassed as well. Whether she meant to or not, Gaara was caught in her gaze and at that moment he realized that there was no better time than to admit to what he was feeling. He then places his hand over hers and wraps his fingers delicately into her palm. Imao blushes and can sense Gaara's demeanor change. She could feel him… but she herself also felt the same. She smiled at him shyly.

"Imao…" Gaara waited for her response.

"Hmm?" Although she couldn't clearly see him, Imao immediately averted her face from his trance-like gaze in hopes that he wouldn't figure out what she was thinking from her facial expressions.

"You're… you are a very beautiful and intelligent girl. I don't think I've ever found anyone as interesting as I find you." Gaara gulped, hoping his voice wouldn't quiver out of nervousness. Imao looked down as she felt her cheeks flare up.

"I… I think you're a very strong and caring guy… I-I don't think I've ever admired someone, especially a man, as much as I admire you… I…" Gaara smiled and blushed meanwhile his hand started to intertwine with hers. Imao's heart raced as she drew circles on the ground with her right index finger. She kept wondering what else to say but she felt so nervous with what was happening that anything she would say might as well be gibberish. Cloud nine had nothing on her. They both sat there, enjoying this new feeling of euphoric affection for each other as their pulses synchronize in their entwined hands.

After a few minutes of sitting there in their quaint little utopia of a cave, the rain stops. Gaara lets go of Imao's hand and gets up. He then helps up Imao and they both blush as they keep feeling a sweet longing for one another. Gaara turns away from her nervously but acts as though he does it so he can go put out the fire he had made inside the cave. Imao follows close by him and waits for him to be done. As they both head for the cave opening, their hands act like magnets and lightly keep touching each other. Gaara steps out first and notes how the sky turned back to its bright blue color. The sun's bright rays danced around in the newly formed creek right outside the cave.

"That storm left as fast as it came in." He smiled as he kept looking for any signs of more rain.

"Must've been in a hurry." Imao joked and smiled sweetly. Gaara blushed as he found Imao's smile cute for an instance.

"Shall we take a walk out of here?" Gaara smirked, then looked away as his hand found hers and entwined once more.

"Sure…" Imao blushed happily.

As the time flies, the sun starts to set. They arrive in a small open area surrounded by trees that was near by Imao's home. As they stop, Gaara walks away from her to assess his thoughts and feelings. Imao became a little confused and walked towards him. Gaara then turns around and stoped in front of her. She looked up at him with question on her face.

"I leave tomorrow." Gaara spoke with concern. Imao looked down, saddened by this news. Gaara softly grabs Imao's arms. She looks up again as he looks off to the side blushing.

"It would be nice if… you could come with me." Imao's eyes widened as she gulped in nervousness.

"I mean… you could come as a guest… and bring your family, if you'd like." Gaara tried to play it off, trying not to sound desperate. Imao blushed as she looked around nervously. Although she couldn't clearly see her surroundings she tried to find something else to focus on in order to calm her nervousness. She could hear her heart pounding in her head.

"Umm… well…." Her eyes tried to avert his questioning gaze but as he leaned in closer to her. She was startled by his motion and had only heard of what happened in these types of situations. She closed her eyes and…

"So?" Gaara questioned her more sternly. Imao realized what she thought was going to happen didn't.

"Well, I need to think about it and…" she was interrupted.

"That's fine, I'll come back here tomorrow before I leave." Gaara responded a little rushed, realizing it was getting late.

"Ok…" Imao shrugged and looked a little confused.

"We should get going. Thank you… for… today." Gaara slightly smiled and let go of her arms. Imao felt his warm touch on her hands. She smiled back and blushed.

"Have a good night." Imao replied shyly.

"I will." Gaara walked away and disappeared into the forest. Imao then walked toward her house feeling smitten but then unsure of herself.

As Imao entered her home, she quickly made her way around the kitchen, through the small hallway and went straight into her room. Imai was sitting at the dining table in the kitchen noted how strangely Imao came in and, for her love of figuring out what causes her sister to feel and look so uncomfortable, decides to go question her heavily dismayed-looking sister. Imai barges into Imao's room and sees her sister pacing around, mumbling to herself.

"What's the matter with you? You usually come in so happy and dandy from your 'outings'." A startled Imao stares at her sister.

"Oh! I'm sorry… it's just…" Imao stops herself and notes how peculiar Imai questioned her.

"'It's just' what?" Imai curiously asked.

"Nothing… nevermind." Imao sat down on her bed and pondered to herself. Imai realized Imao was onto her and decided to just play the kindness card for once and maybe get out some juicy details.

"Look, it's pretty obvious that you have issues or something and… it's not like you to act this way. It's a little weird and I don't like seeing you like that, to be honest." Imai tried to sound not so concerned even though she was, slightly. Imao sensed her sister's demeanor change and could sense the slight concern Imai actually had. Imao thought for a minute and finally decided to explain why she was acting the way she was. As Imao told her sister of the events that took place that day, Imai became very intrigued and actually felt a bit of compassion for her sister's situation, but not before thinking about her own ambitions and needs first, of course.

"I think… you should go." Imai looked at her sister in all seriousness.

"I think you need to go and find…" Imai grit her teeth for a second, "… happiness in your life…" She tried hard to contain herself from saying the mean things she's used to telling her sister. Imao was taken aback by Imai's enthusiasm.

"But… father will never…" Imao became saddened by her realization. Imai plopped herself down on Imao's bed, sitting close by her sister but still keeping her distance as to not create more awkwardness.

"As much as I'd like to get you in trouble… I'll cover for you…" Imai bit her tongue, "I'll come up with some excuse and after that… well… you're just a runaway." Imai looked off to the side, keeping her composure.

"R-runaway?" Imao became frightened by the sound of it.

"Yup… you'll be a runaway. You know that's what you have to do… in order to be with him. There's no other way and you know it." Imai laid back on her sister's bed, supporting the back of her head with her arms crossed behind her.

"I suppose… but… what about Kiyoshi?" Imao became concerned at the thought of leaving Kiyoshi behind.

"I'll watch over him… don't worry." Imai kept staring at the ceiling, uncaringly. Imao thought to herself for a minute. She knew it would be difficult for Kiyoshi to be by himself without her help. She didn't want anyone to find out about Kiyoshi's secret… but she realized that no one had ever questioned him through out the years because they were able to hide it so well. Imao griped her hands together, and let out a sigh. Imai became bored, got up and walked out.

"I… I must go speak with him." Imao pushed herself up sadly and made her way down the hallway and stopped at Kiyoshi's room. The door was open and she peered inside; he laid stomach down on his bed, coloring on a piece of paper. Imao could sense his determination but unfortunately, she had to break it.

"Kiyoshi… We need to talk."


	10. Chapter 7

**Ch. 7 – First Pain**

* * *

"What do you mean it can't be done!" his fist pounded on the table as he stood up. Gaara had never felt so determined.

"I'm sorry, Gaara… but you know it's for the benefit of our village." Kankuro tried to reassure him.

"Benefit? For the village? Explain to me how that will benefit the village, Kankuro. How?" Gaara stared down at his older brother angrily. Kankuro looked down, averting his eyes from Gaara's angry expression.

"You know that the village will… respect you more if you comply with the elders' request. You've already agreed to it and there's no turning back. I'm sorry." Kankuro stood up and walked towards Gaara. He patted his younger brother's shoulder and gave him a stern look.

"I don't understand what's gotten into you lately, but your duties of Kazekage need to be taken seriously. You're old enough to understand that now." Gaara glared at him and swatted Kankuro's hand off his shoulder. Gaara walked towards the window of the little meeting room they were in and looked down at the villagers of Konoha walking around.

"Please get your things ready. We leave in a couple hours." Kankuro moved one of the chairs into the table and walked out of the room. Gaara's facial expression changed as he heard the door shut behind him. He sighed as he realized that the next decision he made was going to change his future… He then remembered something that Imao once said in one of their meetings.

"_The heart and mind can never coincide but one will eventually subdue the other… it just really depends on what you listen to the most."_

Imao packed her things frantically into a small bag, so as to not make it look so obvious she was leaving. She had worry and strife written all over her face. She kept debating whether what she was doing was right. Her heart raced as she grabbed things from her drawers. She'd never felt so scared… but then she also never felt so excited. For once in her life, she was about to rebel. She was about to make a decision for her life. She and her siblings had always obeyed their father. The only one that seemed to get away with things was Imai but even so, their father was very strict about everything.

As Imao searched around, she found a picture. It was of her family; her father, Yasuko, Imai, Kiyoshi and her before Yasuko was married off. Her eyes began to water and her worry had now turned into sadness. She pressed the photograph against her chest as she sighed. She closed her eyes as the tears rolled down her face…

"What the hell are you standing there for! You gotta get moving!" Imai glanced inside Imao's room. Imao quickly wiped the tears off her face and put the picture in the small bag. She grabbed a few more things and stepped out. Imai and Kiyoshi waited for her outside of their home; they looked around making sure that their father wasn't there to witness Imao leaving.

"Ok… I'm ready." Imao came out sadly out of the small house. Her siblings came to her still being cautious of their surroundings.

"Are you sure that…" Imao tried to question her siblings.

"Look! You know that you have to go now in order for you not to get caught." Imai exclaimed. Imao hung her head down slightly, still feeling unsure of the whole situation.

"Don't worry… everything will be fine. For once, I'm on your side sis'." Imai patted her twin on the shoulder, giving her a slight smile. Imao could feel Imai's compassion; she had never heard her call her that... _'Sis'…'_ She smiled at Imai, holding back a tear... but then, she heard a whimper. Imao faced Kiyoshi, as she could sense that he was trying to fight his sobs. Imao couldn't hold it anymore; she went to Kiyoshi and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back as they both started to cry. It was such a bittersweet moment.

"Awww! Come on!" Imai tried to sound annoyed but slightly showed that she almost lost her own composure. After a minute of their teary embrace, they let go of each other. Imao wiped her eyes and then wiped Kiyoshi's tear-filled cheeks.

"Stay strong, alright? I promise I'll come back for you." Imao assured him with a smile.

"Please come back soon." Kiyoshi asked weakly, still feeling jittery from the hard sobbing.

"I will." She grabbed his hand and gripped it lightly then let go. Imai came over to them and patter her sister in the back.

"Time to go." She said in all seriousness. Imao nodded and gulped. She began to walk into the forest but then stopped and looked back towards her siblings. She waved at them lightly and tried to keep a smile. Imao takes in a deep breath and continues to walk straight into the forest.

Imai and Kiyoshi stand there… watching Imao's figure disappear into the forest.

Finally, Imao arrives at their usual meeting place. It took her about 15 minutes to get there, a little faster than usual. She felt a little anxious since she could not sense him around but knew he would appear soon. She went to her usual spot - underneath a big tree. It always provided her with shade and something to lean against as she sat down to wait. She began to reminisce about all the meetings they had in the past 2 weeks. It all seemed so long ago but then it felt like everything was happening soo fast. She took in a deep breath to relieve some of the stress. A small breeze blew lightly against her face. Imao smiled and began to listen to her surroundings. The creek trickled close by, the birds chirped; it was a nice day.

Hours passed and a cold chill came over Imao. She rubbed her arms for warmth as she could tell the sun was setting. She had already been debating with herself whether something had happened to Gaara or not.

'_Did he forget?... Maybe he got into some trouble… should I look for him? Should I wait?...' _Imao stood up and grabbed her bag and began to follow up alongside the creek. After a few steps she was startled as she heard and felt a presence appear a few feet in front of her. She then took a few more steps and smiled.

"Gaara! You're finally here. I had gotten worried and thought you might have gotten into trouble. But anyways, I wanted to let you know that I've decided…" she stopped as the tone of his voice startled her.

"Imao." Gaara looked down and grit his teeth.

"We can never… see each other… ever." Gaara turned his pained face off to the side. Imao looked at him flabbergasted.

"W-what? But why…." Imao tried to question him but Gaara interrupts her harshly.

"You're a waste of my time… and I'm a waste of yours." Gaara's blunt, cold words hit Imao. Imao's eyes glistened as the sun began to disappear from the sky. Her once happy mouth strained to keep its composure.

"Goodbye." Gaara turns away and disappears into the forest from whence he came. Imao stood there a few minutes, stupefied by what had just happened… by what had just been said.

"A waste of time?..." Imao repeated, her voice quivering. She then started to feel pressure build in her chest. She felt like something within her was being torn out against her will.

'_Why… why does it hurt!'_ Imao gripped the seam of her kimono as her hands pressed against her chest tightly. She let out a little gasp as her tears over flooded her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. She gritted her teeth as she tried hard to pull back her already suppressed wails. She had never felt so betrayed.

'_He lied to me! He tricked me!'_ Imao fell to her knees and every breath she took was a raspy gasp. Imao sat there sobbing at this new but horrible feeling… a feeling of despair, of treason, of hurt. The tears came down on her cheeks like streams of water. She hugged her stomach as she felt a hard, wrenching feeling from within. She tried hard to contain herself but it was impossible. Imao let go and gave a long gaspy cry. She let go of her abdomen and clenched her arms around her. She tried to calm herself knowing that the expulsion of her emotions were pointless. Her body ached from the strenuous exertion of her bawling. She sat there motionless, numb and dazed.

After an hour of meaningless sitting, she manages to pick herself up, grab her bag and walk towards her home. The moon was already out.

Once Imao entered her house, she quickly paced herself to her room and shut the door. Both Imai and Kiyoshi noted her and made their way to her door from the kitchen.

"Imao? What are you doing here? What happened?" Imai knocked on Imao's door worriedly but quietly. No response. She and Kiyoshi then placed their ears against the door and heard Imao's sobbing.

"Imao we're coming in!" Imai opened the door and both entered into her room. Imao sat upon her bed, hugging her knees tightly as she muffled her painful sobs.

"Imao! Imao what's wrong!" Imai reached out to Imao, only to have her hand swatted.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" An angry Imao looked up at her. Imai looked down at her perplexed by her sister's response.

"What the hell is you problem!" Imai scolded Imao.

"YOU GOT YOUR WISH, ALRIGHT!"Imao glared at Imai.

"What are you talking about! What the hell happene…" Imai tried to finish questioning her but Imao was not finished with her rant.

"You told me that I would get what was coming to me and I did! Now leave me alone!" Imao reminded Imai of her chastising words.

"I didn't mean it! I was angry with you that day! Of course I say stupid things but I…" Kiyoshi places his hand on Imai's shoulder as he shakes his head. Imai swallows the rest of her words.

"Let's just leave her be." Kiyoshi looked at Imai sadly. He couldn't bear to hear or see Imao like that. It hurt him to have to leave her like that but both Imai and he knew there was nothing they could do at the moment. Imao had to deal with it on her own… she wanted to deal with it on her own. Imai frowned angrily at Imao and stormed out of the room. Kiyoshi walked out and sadly watched Imao sob quietly on her bed as he closed the bedroom door.

Imao sat there for minutes as she became overwhelmed with emotions that where hard for her to contain. She looked out the window, tears still gliding down her cheeks but yet she felt numb. It seemed like the night was never going to end.


	11. Chapter 8

**Note to the readers:**

Sorry for the delay. Like many others in this world, sometimes life just comes at you with soo many things that everything just becomes overwhelming and you just need to take a long break from it all. Unfortunately, I'm still going through some tough stuff but I'm finding inspiration here and there to continue my story at the pace I can. Again, I apologize for the delay.

* * *

**Ch. 8 – Wasted tears**

She sat there on her bed listless; she had cried every tear she had within her. Her heart was torn to pieces; she was dead from the inside out. All she had to give was taken away from her. She had been staring at the wall since last night, as though she had the ability to, and pondered about her life. She had never met anyone that could cause her to feel so alive, feel like she was an actual human being. She was always treated like a maid (her father), or a pest (Imai), or a role model (Kiyoshi). But she had also never been hurt. She had never felt rejection or betrayal.

'_I should have listened to myself. I knew not to get close to anyone. Love brings nothing but pain… pain and sorrow. It's a useless feeling… never again.'_

Imao laid herself on her side and let whatever tears she had left stream out. She breathed in and out ever so slowly and began to drift into sleep.

Imai opened the door slowly, hoping to get a peek inside Imao's room. As the door's opening became larger, she could see her twin slightly curled up on her bed. There was no sobbing or crying. Imai had never felt so sorry for her sister… it was as though she could feel her broken heart. She would've never imagined in her whole life that she could feel connected to her, feel so in tune and compassionate for her. She even forgot that she was angry with her for yelling at her the night before. Imai just looked at her saddened by seeing such a different side to Imao. It didn't seem fair to her that her sister was feeling so much misery, especially misery that she didn't cause her. Imai sighed as she slowly closed the door shut and made her way to the kitchen.

As Imai looked around for something to eat, a knock on the front door startled her. She went to the door and opened it slightly, taking a peek at who was disturbing her peace.

"Hi! Is Imao in!" His face gleamed with a smile. Naruto was always happy to visit Imao. Imai opened the door a bit more and gave him a slightly annoyed look but then thought about Imao and look at the entrance of the hallway.

"Imao's… not feeling well right now." Imai tried not to look too worried but unfortunately wasn't doing a good job at it and Naruto's face change dramatically frantic.

"What! What happened! Is she ok! Does she need a medic? I can have someone come and…" Imai interrupted him.

"Just… come back in a few days or something. Don't worry about it, she'll be fine… I think it's contagious though." Imai then coughed in Naruto's direction. He stepped back and gave Imai a disgusted look.

"Alright then, tell her I came by and that I hope she feels better." Naruto's words muffled as he covered his nose and mouth with his hands.

"Sure thing…" Imai sighed as she rolled her eyes and close the door.

"Thanks!" Naruto shouted through the door before he left. Imai cringed a little and walked out of the kitchen and made her way into her room.

It had seems a long time since he last saw her. He became anxious and walked quicker as he got closer and closer to her house. He held a small flower in his hand, holding it close to him so that nothing would happen to it. He couldn't wait to see how she was doing, hoping to talk to his friend again. Soon he was a few steps away from the door and as he looks at it better, he sees a folded note sticking out of one of the crevices that the wooden door had and pulls it out.

"Naruto." He read his name on the folded letter. He unfolded it and began to read.

"Dear Naruto,

I regret to inform you that I have left Konoha. My family and I have important and urgent business to attend elsewhere. I just wanted to let you know this and I would like to thank you for being such a great and wonderful friend. I thank you for everything that you have done for me and my family. I hope that someday we will meet again. Please, take good care of yourself. Goodbye.

Your friend,  
Imao Tanaka

Naruto didn't understand why she hadn't told him before. He became saddened and a little angry that he didn't get to see her again.

"Oh well… hopefully I'll get to see her again someday soon." Naruto smiled at himself but then began to wonder if Gaara even knew about this. He knew that Imao and Gaara had become very close but then shrugged it off. There was nothing left for Naruto to do there; he folded the note and put it in his pocket. He placed the flower he had brought Imao into the crevice where Imao had left the note. He smiled again, turned around and walked back to Konoha.


End file.
